Blogs

 Lewis & Clark Trail is one of my favorites to run in all of the St. Louis area. The best attraction it offers is STUNNING views of the Missouri River along its bluffs, as well as views of the surrounding river valley near Chesterfield, MO.

Edgar M. Queeny County Park is located between Town & Country, MO and Mancheser, MO. I like training in this park for a few key reasons:

-Proximity to my house, maybe 10k away

-Rolling Hills-nothing big, but a good workout!

-Runnable off and on road terrain

We are starting up a new round of bootcamps in Falaise (Rupert and Granview) and Riley Park (Main and 33rd) on September 27th (this Monday) and there is a really sweet promotion - buy one get one half off!

All levels will leave feeling they got what they wanted - a hard yet doable workout! We have had all levels from couch potato to world master's half marathon winner!

Contact Alli at www.urbanfitnessmovement.com, info@urbanfitnessmovement.com, or 778.989.1836

After my fall two weeks ago and missing the Sunshine in September run and most of the Mountain Highway Madness, I was eager to get out on the trails again.  A 10min trial run had established that I wouldn't be able to go for a longer run, but I felt confident, that I could go on a shorter hike.  Perfect timing, as Wendy, who also is recovering from a fall, was game for a little peak bagging.  

Without much discussion, we settled on heading for DePencier Bluffs, the newest kid on the block with regards to the Bagger Challenge, and by all accounts an easy peak that could be done before lunch without problem.   The weather forecast was for rain overnight and it looked like things could ease up mid morning.  Well, it didn't just rain overnight, it hammered....Noticed that the forecast was downgraded and now called for heavy rain, but undeterred, I picked up Wendy on the way to the base of Seymour.

 Chubb Trail, near Eureka, MO boasts a wide variety of terrain. It's a point-to-point 7.5+ trail that stretches between Lone Elk County Park and West Tyson County Park in St. Louis County. It's convenient to run because it has plenty of parking at either end, and if you don't feel up to making the complete round trip for 15.5 miles, you could always call for a ride from either parking lot ;-) It's only a 10 minute drive from my house - so that's a big plus for me. It offers a some nice views as you run along the Meramec River and the surrounding river valley.

Capilano Mountain is one of the handful of peaks in the Bagger Challenge I'd not yet bagged, so when Neil contacted me about sneaking off to bag it mid-week, I was on it like white on rice.

With reference to the reasons why I love the Bagger Challenge, a key consideration for me is the reward of a panoramic view from the peak and the exhilarating feeling of being on top of the world.

Yesterday (a week day), I bagged a peak for the first time with my friend Neil the ChickenMan.  Immediately upon my return, I went to a street party where none of the attendees were Baggers.  My non-bagging friends could not understand what could possibly motivate someone to play hooky and go for a 6-hour run on an obscure trail.  All this for bragging rights on a claim to have reached the peak of an obscure mountain peak and making it home alive in time for dinner.

Good question!